Games and Amusement Board chairman Richard Clarin in a Senate hearing. (Screengrab from Senate of the Philippines YouTube channel)
MANILA, Philippines — A total of 31 basketball players have been suspended for game-fixing since 2021.
Richard Clarin, chairman of the Games and Amusement Board, made the revelation during a joint Senate hearing of the sports committee along with the Games and Amusement Committee on Wednesday.
READ: PBA to investigate alleged game-fixing by Singaporean involving its players
Game-fixing, also known as match-fixing, refers to playing or officiating a game to achieve a predetermined result.
“From the records, your honor, from 2021 up to now, we have suspended 31,” Clarin said, speaking partly in Filipino, in response to the question of Senator Raffy Tulfo if there were suspended players due to game-fixing.
Asked by Tulfo if this referred to the players, Clarin said: “The players — players of a league.”
Tulfo ordered Clarin to name the suspended players, prompting the official to mention the names of the cagers, which did not ring a bell for the senator.
“Nagtataka lang ako kasi ang mga binabanggit mo, puro mga players na halos hindi siguro kilala ng karamihan dito,” Tulfo tells Clarin.
“I was wondering because you mentioned players that are unknown to most people here,” Tulfo told Clarin.
“Why don’t you mention known names because there are larger bets for known teams and famous players. The ones you’re mentioning, the bets for them are small.”
The matter was not further discussed as Senator Jinggoy Estrada interjected to present a video exposing alleged game-fixing in the Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup.